Category: Social & Market Justice

One of the most potent objections to government-backed universal healthcare is the problem of free riders. John Smith said in 1608, “he that will not work shall not eat.” Getting something for nothing offends the American sense of fairness. But is this the right way to think about healthcare? Let’s look at free-rider claims and … Continue reading Healthcare Reform: What About Free Riders?→

In the final days before the November 2018 election, Representative Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) launched a campaign ad that criticized his Democratic challenger's support for universal healthcare. Rep. Perry drew a negative comparison to Britain’s National Health Service. The ad was misleading. Below is my Letter to the Editor on the subject. The Letter was posted … Continue reading Campaign Ad on Healthcare Is Misleading→

There are two technical reasons that the “socialism” claim is wrong: First, single-payer does not mean government-single-owner. Second, single-payer is best understood as a public-private hybrid, which is fundamentally different from socialism. This blog has avoided over-politicizing the healthcare reform debate. It has, in fact, cautioned Americans to steer clear of inflammatory loaded words like … Continue reading “Single-payer healthcare is socialism!” – Why That’s Wrong & Wrongheaded→

“Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” This quip is attributed (erroneously?) to Mark Twain. The same could be said about healthcare reform. Except, Americans have trouble even talking about healthcare reform, much less doing anything about it. Let’s look at the challenges of talking about and doing healthcare reform. In … Continue reading Healthcare Reform & Civility – “Everyone Talks About the Weather. . .”→

You can expect to hear a lot about healthcare from political candidates during the 2018 campaign. If Pennsylvania is any indication, candidates from both parties will almost all be talking about the healthcare issue. I surveyed the 17 Republican and 18 Democrat candidates for U.S. House as well as both candidates for U.S. Senate from … Continue reading Healthcare is Political Hot Button Issue in 2018→